Do airlines often fly using cabin crew who are unpaid?

Simon Calder answers your questions on the Air Canada shutdown, travelling via the EU, and New Zealand flights

A number of North American airlines pay crew only when the door of the aircraft is closed (Air Canada)

Q I was caught up in the Air Canada shutdown, with my flight from Toronto to Manchester cancelled on 17 August. I finally got away on 21 August. I didn’t realise cabin crew were not paid when they are not actually flying. That’s so wrong! How many others do this, so I can try to avoid flying with those airlines?

Richard B

A Faced with a strike by angry cabin crew, Air Canada shut down last week. Since then, the airline and CUPE union, representing the crew, have struck a deal and flights have returned to near normal. One of the key issues in the long and bitter dispute has been “boarding pay”. A number of North American airlines have long had a policy of paying crew only when the door of the aircraft is closed – or when the aircraft brakes are off.

Cabin crew have essential and demanding work to do before and after a flight, particularly when passengers are boarding. So the notion that they should be expected to work for nothing, with the clock beginning only when the plane is moving, goes against most people’s idea of fair pay: that employees should be rewarded when they are doing useful stuff on behalf of the employer.

The reports I have read indicate most airlines are moving towards a policy of paying for boarding time, though often at a reduced hourly wage. I do not have a comprehensive list of airlines’ employment policies. I will observe, however, that in North America workers’ rights are different from those elsewhere. For example, in many US states, waiting staff in restaurants are paid below minimum wage on the assumption that they will make up the difference with tips. I don’t like that policy either, but were I to boycott restaurants where it happens, I might go hungry.

Finally, I hope you have noted that Air Canada has “exceptionally” agreed to pay the hotel bills and other expenses of passengers who were stranded away from home by the strike. It seems a simple business to recoup your spending on accommodation and meals through the airline’s website.

Guayaquil is the largest city in Ecuador – and travelling there via Schiphol should not require you to go through passport control (Simon Calder)

Q Another question for you about the entry-exit system (EES). Have they given any information about travellers transiting through EU airports? I’m going to Ecuador via Amsterdam Schiphol in December. I’m not sure if I’ll need to go through any passport controls at Amsterdam.

Andy Norman

A Millions of people travel each year on connecting flights through Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris CDG, etc. Whether a traveller is required to go through passport control after touchdown at the hub depends on the routeing and final destination, and also on the way the travel has been booked.

I imagine you have a through ticket from your local airport to Amsterdam on KLM, with an onward connection on the Dutch airline to the Ecuadorian capital, Quito, or the largest city, Guayaquil. When you turn up for the initial flight from the UK, your baggage will be checked through to the final destination. At Schiphol airport you will not need to go through passport control.

The same applies coming back, unless there is something unusual about your return itinerary. For example, you might have booked an “open jaw” ticket, returning from Bogota in Colombia. Some routeings could involve flying on KLM’s parent company, Air France – eg Bogota-Paris-Amsterdam-Humberside. In this case, the Paris-Amsterdam segment will be an “intra-Schengen” flight, for which you will need to go through passport control. But for the vast majority of passengers, the connecting journey will be “extra-Schengen” and therefore involve no passport palaver.

For completeness, I shall explain two situations in which it is necessary to go through Schengen area border formalities. The first, fairly obviously, is if your final destination is in the Schengen area, eg KLM from Newcastle via Amsterdam to Rome. You will go through passport control at the Dutch airport, in both directions.

The second: “self-connecting” flights, which many of us use to get cheaper air travel. For example, say I were to plan a trip from the UK to Cape Verde in November. By flying from the UK to Lisbon on easyJet and transferring onwards to the Atlantic archipelago, also on easyJet, I can save a small fortune. But on arrival I will need to go through Portuguese immigration, including EES, before beginning the departure process again – leaving the Schengen area just a couple of hours later.

Kiwi fruits: the South Island city of Christchurch is 12,000 miles from London (Getty/iStock)

Q I am going from the UK to Christchurch in New Zealand at the end of January. I am not a frequent flyer and have long legs. The obvious choice seems to be Singapore Airlines from London Heathrow, with a single stop. But we have seen a much more reasonable cost with Qatar Airlines via Melbourne – though this means two stops. What is your advice?

Bill White

A Christchurch, on the South Island of New Zealand, is the most distant big city in the world from the UK – almost 12,000 miles away from London. For what it’s worth, the most direct flight path would see you change planes in the Japanese city of Osaka – but that would depend on being able to overfly Russia, which Western airlines cannot do at the moment. If you want to minimise the distance flown, the solution is to fly on one of the Chinese airlines, which are allowed in Russian airspace. This will also be the cheapest option: China Southern via Guangzhou will get you there with one stop, and also allows the chance for an evening’s stopover in the Chinese city. That’s the one I would take, were time a factor – about 11 hours on each leg, with a decent dinner in between.

You may prefer to avoid Chinese carriers and Russian airspace, and in that case I hope that you will be able to spread out your journey. My recommendation is one of the Gulf-based carriers – probably Qatar, perhaps Emirates – to their hub, and then onwards to Singapore. Spend at least 24 hours in each, to help adjust to the time change and also make the most of the journey. Then connect to the non-stop Singapore Airlines flight.

Coming back, I urge you to continue eastbound for a round-the-world experience. Fly from New Zealand to California, spend time there and then either take an overnight flight home or head across to New York. This is the sort of itinerary you will need a good travel agent for, and I suggest you consult an expert such as Trailfinders, Travel Nation or DialAFlight – all of which I have successfully used – to talk you through the best options.

Email your question to s@hols.tv or tweet @SimonCalder